


Children of Light

by ExoRipper



Series: Children of Light [1]
Category: Dying Light (Video Game)
Genre: Children, OF, light - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 15:16:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10856637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExoRipper/pseuds/ExoRipper
Summary: Follow the two brothers, Apollo and Hermes, as they find out the hard way just how tough life can be inside the Quarantine Zone. From heartfelt adventures, to comedic moments, to dark reveals, anything and everything is possible in the decaying city once known as Harran.





	Children of Light

**Author's Note:**

> Hello dear potential reader. First and foremost, thanks for taking a look at my story. Despite the game's popularity, this fandom is incredibly small, so every reader is appreciated.  
> If you happened to like it, you found a problem, or you just have a piece of advice you'd like to share, please go right ahead. I guarantee, I'll be very thankful :)

“...need...help…”

Hermes shifted around in his bed, away from the sound.

“...anyo...hear…”

“Turn that thing off…” Apollo mumbled from his side of the bed as he pushed Hermes closer to the edge.

“Ughhh…” Hermes lamented. He took his hands to the nightstand next to their bed and looked for that pesky alarm clock, his mind overwritten by an old routine.

‘One I’ll never enjoy again,’ he thought when his fingers found a radio instead. They curled around it lazily and brought it to his ear.

“Hello?” he answered still half-asleep.

“Help...daughter...bitten…”

His eyes flung open.

“Where? Where?!”

“Black...bazar…” A broken voice answered him.

“Coming.”

Click. The radio went silent. Hermes got to his feet and started looking around the room.

‘Pants, shirt, jacket…’

“What was that all about?” Apollo mumbled as he turned around to face the wall.

“Emergency call! Wake up bro!”

“Nooo…” Apollo mumbled.

“Yes.”

Hermes approached the bed and grabbed the sheets beneath Apollo. He started pulling them towards the edge.

“No, no, no,” Apollo tried pleading as he rolled away.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Hermes pressed on.

When Apollo rolled off of the sheets, Hermes reached for his jeans.  A couple fingers found their way inside one of Apollo’s belt loops, and Hermes swiftly dragged him to the floor.

Apollo landed wide-eyed.

“Fuck you, bro…”

“Later, we got to go.”

Hermes turned his attention away from his brother and started dressing up. Apollo looked at his watch.

“It’s two in the night! Are you crazy?” He yelled as he jumped to his feet. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“Someone’s been bitten,” Hermes spoke calmly, rubbing at his left forearm. “We have to go.”

With a defeated ‘ughh’, Apollo started getting prepared as well.

“Where’s my baseball bat?” Hermes asked as he zipped up his jacket.

“Beneath the bed,” Apollo answered as he grabbed his hatchet and shoved it in a belt loop.

“You go and tell Ayo where we’re off to,” Apollo whispered as they left the room. “I’ll go to Lena and grab my pouch.”

* * *

 Ding, the elevator announced, muted metallic squeals echoing through the Tower’s floor level as it’s doors opened. Apollo and Hermes got out and headed for the exit.

“Where are you boys off to?” The quartermaster asked them as they passed by.

“Suicide mission…” Apollo answered before they jumped down the broken stairs.

A guard waited by the door that lead to the outside, reclined by a wall. He let go of his rifle and extended his right hand in front of the approaching brothers.

“Where are you going?” He asked in a weary voice.

“The bazar. It’s an emergency,” Apollo told him as he lowered his hand.

“It’s night time though. You sure about this? Do you have someone’s permission?” He asked, a look of genuine worry arising on his face.

“Ayo’s,” Hermes quickly cut in.

“Well then,” the guard took out a set of keys and unlocked the door, “good luck.”

They went past him and out into the treacherous night.

“You’re gonna need it…” the guard mumbled as he closed the doors behind them.

Apollo shot his brother a quick glance.

“We don’t have Ayo’s permission, do we?”

“Nope,” Hermes answered with enthusiasm.

Apollo sighed.

“Lead the way…”

* * *

 Apollo landed face-first onto the hard pavement, a loud thud echoing through the otherwise silent street.

He got up to his feet and peeked out from behind the van, scanning the street for any threats. Only a few normal, shambling corpses.

'Only normal corpses', he thought and paused for a second.

'Normal my ass', his train of thought continued.

'Though this is the norm now in this hell-hole of a city...'

Looking up to the roof from which he fell, he could hear Hermes first sighing in relief, and then struggling to contain his laughter. This was however no laughing matter. He hated every day in Harran with a passion. The night he dreaded even more.

In his mind, describing their night run as a suicide mission was a perfect fit. One wrong step, one loud slip of the foot or a bad landing was all it would take to attract the attention of half the volatiles in the city. Before they'd realize it, those things would tear them apart in a blink of their undead eyes.

'Time to get back up there...'

A short climb was all that separated him from the relative safety of the rooftops. Not even up there was he safe though, as these corpses were like vines, able to crawl up on anything they could get a grip on. The high ground was still better than the streets. At least up there, the little annoying fuckers were inexistent, or at the very least rare. Down on the streets, getting overrun was not only a possibility, it was the most likely outcome.

He approached the wall, and with a quick hand gesture told his brother to help him get back up the roof.

Yet, as his brother leaned down and stretched out his hand for him to grab it, a sudden howl sent both of them back on their bellies.

Embracing the cold, hard pavement once again for the low profile it offered, while Hermes did the same to the steel sheets that covered the roof, Apollo struggled to lower his breath as much as possible.

His senses heightened. Bleak streaks of grey pierced the enveloping darkness and revealed square, stuttering shadows crawling on the asphalt. Faint footsteps approached him on the other side of the van, accompanied by occasional growls.

As almost complete silence engulfed the street, he could hear heavy footsteps getting closer.

From his higher vantage point, Hermes could see more clearly the events unfolding below. A volatile got blinded by someone's UV flashlight, which made it scram. Towards them.

It emerged from behind a street corner, shambling around and flailing it's arms in the air. It knocked down a trash can and one of the zombies on the street, which approached the noise in hope a meal.

Blood soaked hands made their way to it’s face, distorted claws scraping at exposed flesh as it tried to rub the blindness away.

'Poor, confused fucker...'

Realizing the futility of it's efforts, the volatile gave up and accepted it's fate. It’s hands fell away as it’s broken jaw opened wide.

From behind the van, Apollo couldn’t see the volatile. But he could hear it loud and clear, as it was 10 to 15 feet away from him. Goosebumps rose on his skin as the creature gasped.

The swirling sound of air being forcefully sucked into decomposing flesh was scary on it's own, yet what was about to be unleashed from the rotting lungs of the volatile was terrifying. A frightening howl followed only moments later, sending ice cold chills down the spines of both brothers.

Aimed at the nothingness of the sky, it was only a howl of anger, not a call to feast. Not any less scary, as it still attracted a viral or two, which were far more nosy than the volatiles.

A few moments of soul-crushing silence passed, and the volatile’s howl remained unanswered. It calmed down and began sniffing the air. That was bad news. Even though they didn't need to breathe anymore and only did it as a remnant, a leftover reflex of their once-alive selves, their sense of smell was still intact. Enhanced even. And now, it was using that sense to find them.

Laid down on their bellies, both brothers were praying not to be found. But as the volatile approached the van, they realized it was too late for that. Just as it regained some of it's sight, the volatile got blinded again by a UV flare which suddenly landed on the van, thrown from the roof above.

"Quick, grab my hand!" Hermes yelled, perched over the edge.

"On it!"

Apollo grabbed his brother’s hand and struggled to make his way up. His soles slipped in search for solid footing.

“Fatass!” Hermes cried out. He grabbed his brother with both hands and forced a foot beneath himself. A quick jab, and Apollo’s abdomen met the roof. He crawled the rest of the way by himself, only to see Hermes getting a headstart on him.

Back up on his feet, Apollo began sprinting at full force. Just as so many times before, the blinded volatile began howling. This time though, it was a "call to the feast" type of howl, which would bring about all the volatiles and virals that would hear it.

"What have we thrown ourselves into?!" He asked Hermes as he gained up on him.

"Stop being such a wuss. It's for a noble cause."

The only thing separating them from the cause to which they committed were a few streets, filled with overly paranoid volatiles and virals looking for them. It was only a matter of time until they would be found, all caution thrown aside in their frantic run for safety.

One loud landing on a dented sheet of metal covering one of the roofs, that's all it took to spark the chase. First a viral, then another, then a couple of volatiles. Slowly but surely, the pack of crazed zombies was catching up to them, only growing in size as they approached the safe house.

Yet, even with their superior speed, the undead had a hard time keeping up with the brothers. Their movements were much more graceful and controlled, compared to the almost spastic running of the creatures, which frequently tripped or even fell off of the roofs.

"Are we getting close to that god damned bazaar?!" Apollo asked as he cleared a leap.

"We're almost there, only a few rooftops left!"

They reached the homestretch, and Apollo paused for a second. His sight sank in the street below, tangled between the

biters waiting for them.

With his thoughts lost in the sea of death below, he didn’t notice when Hermes passed him by. He jumped down on a bus, then a car, and finally on the hard ground. The biter’s attention shifted, pointed on their next meal.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Hermes!” Apollo yelled from the roof. He pulled out three bundles of firecrackers and lit them, tossing them in the crowd.

Hermes watched them stumble towards the cracks. His tense shoulders slacked for a moment, before a light tap on his back made him jump out of his skin.

“Ahhhh!” He yelled in a high pitched voice as he stumbled forwards.

“Top predator material,” Apollo teased from behind him.

"Ha ha, you’re very funny,” Hermes tried to retort. He straightened his posture and pointed at the safe zone ahead. “I'll go first, you'll follow closely behind."

"Got it."

Letting Hermes charge in front felt wrong, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He was stronger than him, and he also happened to be much better at tackling zombies. Experience he gained as a quarterback in their high school football team, no doubt.

Even though he was not a mountain-sized meathead, combining his huge momentum with proper tackle technique meant he could get through a fairly large group of zombies with relative ease.

“On three?” Apollo asked as they watched a small clearing form in the crowd.

“Three!” Hermes yelled and began his charge.

One after another, the zombies began biting the dust, hitting the cold hard pavement as they were pushed out of the way. It didn't help them that they were clumsy beyond any reasonable measure, but the brothers were perfectly fine with that.

During their crazy dash through the hoard, occasionally stomping the heads of zombies that happened to fall in their way, they could see the gates of the bazaar getting closer and closer.

Two signs were hanging above it. A wooden one reading Black Serpent Bazaar was hung there since before the outbreak, while the other was a bed sheet flailing in the wind, with the words SAFE HOUSE smeared onto it with green paint. That, along with the powerful UV lights that surrounded the yard were telltale signs that this was a safe haven during both day and night. Probably teeming with survivors right about now. And it was their destination.

They got within reach of the fence. Hermes climbed it first, pushed from behind by his brother.

Yet, just as Apollo grabbed the fence, something grabbed him by the leg and pulled him to the ground. One of the volatiles managed to catch up to them on the street, and was now on top of him. Even though they were slow and clumsy on the roofs, no human was a match for the speed of a volatile on the ground. Especially in a straight line.

He tried punching and kicking it off of him, while it tried to sink it's teeth into his flesh multiple times.

Suddenly, the entire weight of the volatile simply vanished. It flew a couple of feet and off of him. It hit the ground and bounced back up, ready to charge him again. Apollo closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact. It didn’t come.

Instead, as he opened his eyes, he saw the volatile blocked by an immense shadow, posted in front of him.

"Climb inside! Now!"

"But..."

There was no time for buts. Hermes could only hold the volatile for so long before being overpowered by it's immense, inhuman strength. Going against his will to help, Apollo quickly climbed over the fence and watched his brother struggle against the mass of rotten flesh on the other side.

He pushed the volatile away, then pulled a hunting knife out of his pocket.

It charged again. Hermes ducked below it’s outstretched arms, and sunk the blade in it’s right shoulder on his way back. The pain made the creature jump back a few feet, with the knife still embedded in it's flesh. Confused by this unusually stubborn human, it didn't see what came next. It received a faceful of blinding UV light from Hermes’ pocket flashlight.

That bought him enough time to jump over the fence, and join his brother in the safe zone.

"Oh man, that was complete madness,” Hermes whined as he caught his breath. “The tower isn't even that far away from here, but we almost got killed."

"Again," Apollo added.

"I hate the night..."

All the eyes in the yard were pointed on them. A few of them held curiosity, a few held fear. One held tired anticipation as it started making it’s way towards them.

"Excuse me, strangers, but who are you?"

"I'm Apollo."

"And I'm Hermes. We're brothers."

"You're not from around here, I gather."

"You're very perceptive, old man. What gave us away?" Apollo asked on a sarcastic tone. Of course, in reality, everything gave them away. From their looks, to their names, to their accents, they were clearly foreigners.

Apollo was the tallest among the two, at a little over 6 feet, with black hair and deep blue eyes. He was slim, almost slender, but built sturdy nonetheless. A definite side effect of his new life style.

Hermes on the other hand was a little shorter, though not with much, as he stood only a couple of inches lower than his brother. His hair was dark blonde, and his eyes were the same deep blue as his brother's. Compared to Apollo, he was all around more imposing. A bit on the bulky side, though not enough to hinder his movement or lower his agility. Else he wouldn't be a runner.

Apollo shot the yard a few glances before turning his attention back on the old man.

"Listen, we're not here for trouble if that's what you're afraid of. We're here..."

He didn’t get to finish, as the ever-enthusiastic Hermes had to cut in.

"We're here to help. We heard your radio message back at the tower, and we came as fast as we could. Now, where's the girl?"

Apollo turned his gaze on his brother. The tone of that last part sounded a bit to perverted for his liking. In return, Hermes cracked a worried smile and waved his hand in his _'it's just a joke bro'_ fashion. Apollo sighed, and turned back to the old man.

"So, where's the girl?"

"Dude, you get mad at me, but your line sounded even more perverted..."

"Shut up, Hermes!"

"You shut up, I'm the player in this group!"

The men were watching them butting their heads together, unable to believe that two morons such as these could survive a night run. The old man dispersed the crowd through a hand gesture, and then addressed the two brothers, which were still going at each other's throats.

"Listen, strangers. If you want to help, follow me. But please keep quiet. The people here are trying to rest."

The brothers looked at the old man, then back at each other, before they let out a half-assed sorry. In reality of course, they weren't sorry for anything. In fact, this was their routine. Their way of showing their affection for each other. Anyone that knew them knew that. And actively tried to avoid them in such moments, as they would quickly escalate into full-blown fights. Sparring matches, or training, as they'd call it.

The old man took off, walking softly towards one of the makeshift tents in the yard. Following him inside, the brothers saw a heartbreaking scene. A young woman, no older than 30, was sitting on her knees at the head of a child laid on a mattress and covered with a ragged blanket that's seen better days.

When she heard the three men entering her tent, she lifted her head, revealing the exhausted and desperate look in her eyes.

"Erva, these two boys are here to help Aylin."

Tears began running down her cheeks as she tried to mutter _'thank you'_ between her sobs. Apollo approached her, kneeling down besides the mattress, while Hermes stayed behind with the old man. He checked the young girl's temperature by pressing the back of his hand against her forehead, and found out that her reddened face was telling the truth: she was burning with fever. Then he uncovered her, and checked her breathing by placing his ear on her chest. Her breaths were deep and heavy, though rare.

With no time to lose, he busted out his small pouch, which once opened was revealed to be filled with medicine. He began questioning the woman.

"On the radio, you didn't mention much, only that your daughter needed help. I need to know a bit more though, so I can treat her properly."

"She began having seizures two days ago, and it's gotten worse since then. She passed out in the morning, with this high fever."

"Has she been bitten, or does she suffer from unrelated seizures?"

"She's been bitten, yes."

"Recently?"

"No, it's been a few weeks now. Our money ran out some time ago though, so we couldn't afford much antizin."

The old man was looking at the scene, impressed by what he was seeing.

"Is your brother a medic or something?" He asked eventually.

"No. Not yet anyway. He was in his last year at a medical college though, so he knows what he's doing. Mostly anyway."

As Hermes was talking to the old man, Apollo turned towards them.

"Hey bro, hand me your vial. I forgot mine back at the tower."

"Sure, just give me a sec..."

Hermes searched through his pockets for a few seconds. His hand emerged out of his back pocket, holding a small, gray vial which he tossed to his brother. Apollo caught it and took out an injector from his little pouch, into which he inserted the antizin vial. Upon lifting the girl's sleeve though, her mother stopped him with a hand gesture.

"Listen, stranger. I'm grateful for your help, but as I told you, I don't have any money."

Apollo turned his gaze on her, then removed her hand. He administered a dose of antizin to the sleeping girl, which frowned for a split second before returning to her calm expression.

"What kind of shitty world we live in..." he muttered as he tossed Erva the injector.

He got back to his pouch and pulled a few pills out.

"Give her half of these right away, and if the fever isn't gone by dawn, give her the other half."

After zipping his pouch shut and hiding it in his clothes again, he got up and grabbed his brother, ready to leave the tent. He turned towards the woman, who was clutching the injector, and told her.

"We'll be back tomorrow with another vial or two of antizin. That should last you for a while."

They left the tent, followed closely behind by the old man.

"Thank you so much for helping Erva and her daughter. How can we repay you?"

"A couple beds for the night should do," Apollo replied.

"And the number of any hot girl that passed by..." Hermes didn't finish, feeling his brother's stare falling on him again.

The old man pointed towards an empty tent, with a couple of spare sleeping bags on top of old mattresses inside. Nothing too fancy or special, but welcomed by the two exhausted brothers. Seeing Hermes jab Apollo with his elbow as they entered the tent, the old man couldn't help but think.

"They're a strange pair, these two..."


End file.
